Dear Friend of ACYP,

This week marks the start of Youth Week – a very exciting time in ACYP’s calendar. As Advocate as I will be attending many Youth Week events and initiatives to celebrate the amazing young people in our lives this week. This year’s theme, as chosen by the Youth Advisory Council, is Express, Empower and Get Loud, and to celebrate this theme I will be heading to Nyngan, Walgett, Fairfield, Wollongong and Penshurst, to name a few, and the ACYP team will be at many more events across NSW.

I encourage young people across the state to get involved in the many events taking place for Youth Week. Visit Youth Week NSW to find out what’s happening in your local area.

Applications are now open for the 2025 Youth Advisory Council (YAC). If you are a young person aged 12-24, living in NSW and are interested in advocating for the voices of children and young people across the state, I want to hear from you! Or if you know a young person that would want to be on the YAC – we encourage you to share the below with them.

Read on to catch-up on our work from the last few months, as well as events and initiatives we have coming up.

YAC Recruitment

We’re on the lookout for the next 12 young people who will make up the 2025 NSW Youth Advisory Council.

Anyone aged 12-24 living in NSW who is interested in advocating for children and young people across the state is encouraged to apply.

Applications close on Sunday, 21 April 2024.

Youth Week 2024

Strategic Tracking Report 02

In February, the Advocate released the Strategic Plan for Children and Young People Tracking Report 02.

The second tracking report for the NSW Strategic Plan for Children and Young People, measures changes in children and young people’s perceptions on key issues that impacted them throughout 2023.

 Disaster Recovery and Preparedness Report

The Disaster Recovery and Preparedness Report: Voices of children and young people living in the Northern Rivers, reflects the voices of more than 630 children and young people living in the region, and what is important to them in natural disaster recovery and future preparedness planning.

Since March 2023, the Office of the Advocate for Children and Young People’s Recovery Youth Support Services (RYSS) team has been working with children and young people living in the Northern Rivers who have been impacted by the floods. 

 Short Film Competition

To celebrate the various experiences of young people who arrived in Australia as a refugee or migrant we are running a short film competition. The theme is 'Tell us a story'.

If you have something you would like to teach others about your culture, we invite you to share a story through a two-minute film. Your story can be completely made up or have happened in real life. 

Competition closes Tuesday, 25 June 2024.

Amplifying the voices of children and young people from refugee and migrant backgrounds

We will be focusing on amplifying the voices of young people from refugee and migrant backgrounds for the first half of 2024. If you’re under the age of 25 years and keen to participate, please register. If you’re from the sector and want to partner with us, please reach out to participation@acyp.nsw.gov.au.

Register for 2024 Consultations – your voice maters! 

We want to hear from you about the issues young people face and what you think should be done to address them. Your responses are completely anonymous, so feel free to share your thoughts openly. 

If you're interested in participating in our consultations, simply register with your email to be entered into our quarterly draw. Your feedback is incredibly valuable to us and our team reads every single response. The results will help us focus our work on the right things and may even be shared with the public so they can hear from you too.

Child Rights Online Training

Training for all people who work with children and young people, our Child Rights Training will expand your knowledge on child rights and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. 

If you would like to know more about anything in this newsletter or have any questions, please get in touch by emailing us at acyp@acyp.nsw.gov.au.

Zoë Robinson
Advocate for Children and Young People